Can you really put a price on fear? Turns out you can

UPDATE: 2012Hoax.org general position on Vivos.

Let this be a lesson to you. If you ask for more information from a company that sells the public a way to ride out a nuclear event, or massive environmental catostrophe you should be prepared for a slightly defensive response.

I mentioned in my previous post that the videos for the Vivos shelters - basically retrofitted bunkers where rooms are being sold at a high price - were so thick with images crafted to generate fear they seemed like they could be a joke, or brilliant piece of satire.  

Again my favourite part in the sales video starts at (2:07) Column of fire, frightened eye, mother and baby, concerned seniors and depressed family dressed all in denim on the beach.

Further searches on Google to learn more about the company and read more about their latest offering on the market ($10,000 to weather the end of days in their economy bunker) turned up a link to a website (www.2012hoax.org) questioning if/how the bunker system could actually work or would people be comfortable and capable of lasting several months in any of the Vivos facilities. Getting a spot in the more spacious bunkers starts at $25,000 (U.S.).

I sent a note to Vivos asking to comment on the link, did they have photos I could see of the facility and how long they had been in business and what stage the facilities are at in terms of construction.

I also spent some time poking around the media review section of the website and posted a link to a Reuters video showing parts of already built underground bunkers that will be retrofitted to resemble the "luxury" accommodations shown in videos on the Vivos website, according to the company.

Based on the response I received to my questions, I can now report with confidence this company is 100 per cent committed to sticking to the talking points used to sell its products. (Cold chills increasing ten fold)

But I still wanted to post the full response from a woman who identifed herself in an email as Barbi Grossman, Media Director for The Vivos Group.

I sent a note to www.2012Hoax.org where I found the content questioning the facility and asked for clarification and a comment.

They sent a general comment regarding their online position on Vivos, which is about a year old.  

"Our Vivos page would show our general stance, that Vivos perhaps require some investigation into what they're offering, and whether it really is necessary," said someone from the site in an email noting any response to the "moron" comment would have to come from the founder, who is away.

Here is Grossman's full response.

“Emily,

We are well aware of this moron’s website and attempt to defrock virtually everyone and everything that is providing solutions to the Earth changing events and catastrophes that are already around us. Unfortunately, there are many uninformed “hoaxers” professing their lack of knowledge and/or expertise to the naïve. They don’t have a clue about the virility of our hardened shelters, originally built by the government in each respective country to withstand 20 megaton nuclear blasts, their state-of-the-art construction, impervious strength, mechanical and electronic systems, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical filtration, extensive security devices, food, fuel and medical provisions stocked for a fully autonomous survival for the Vivos members that will inhabit each shelter. Frankly, the ‘2012hoax[ed]’ websites misled allegations are not worth responding to.

Proof of Vivos shelters may be found at each of these pages, and more throughout our website:

http://www.terravivos.com/secure/indiana.htm Completion scheduled for late August 2011

http://www.terravivos.com/secure/nebraska.htm Completion scheduled for Fall 2011

Or, perhaps you would prefer to take the word of CNBC, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, BBC, CBC, N24, NPR, NTV, Al Jazeera, RTL, SBS, Nippon TV, Reuters, and hundreds of other international media that have personally toured and inspected the Vivos shelters. http://www.terravivos.com/secure/news.htm

Unfortunately, ‘2012hoax[ed]’ will never see, know for certain, nor be offered a spot in Vivos. They and their ill-informed followers will be the ones banging on the door the loudest to get in.

 So, which side of the door would you like your readers to be on?

 Best regards,

 Barbi”

(The following note to readers has nothing to do with the views of the Toronto Star and everything to do with the opinion of Yours Truly.)

Dear readers, I must admit that aside from my family (Thanks for reading Granny, love you!) I know very little about your daily lives or plans to weather impending disaster.

But I hope and pray you, anyone you love or even like will not be within a thousand miles of those shelters or the badly frightened people who will no doubt end up fighting over deyhdrated muffins behinds the doors. (Who do you think gets to enforce order in those types of situations?)

Being prepared for the worst and encouraging people to think about their options can be a positive and educational process. How you prepare is all about personal choice, whether that means digging your own bunker, taking medical courses, owning a gun (with the proper permits of course) buying 200 cans of pork and beans or surrounding your home with a highly trained swarm of bees. It is up to you. 

Using terrorist attacks, disease, the Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012, super volcanos and a video that implies a person's children wil suffer a painful death to sell yet-to-be-retrofitted shelters is simply an example of a business preying on the weak.

I don't think Vivos is a joke, at least not the funny kind, just another company making a buck off an increasingly fearful and vulnerable segment of society.

Again Vivos (Harold Camping, Glenn Beck) thanks for caring.

Still taking my chances with that column of fire.

 

 

 

 

Comments

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There is a big difference in being prepared for a disaster and being prepared for an apocalypse. The former includes plans should you be without power for a time, a severe winter storm closing down your area, or a harsh economic downturn. My plans for the column of fire or nuclear attack is to sit on the deck with a case of beer and hope it hits my house . . . I wouldn't want to survive one of those scenarios above ground with my freedom and wits, let alone buried underground with a thousand of my closest 'friends'. Keep your preps in perspective and concentrate on the survivable and possible given your situation - and leave these whack jobs out of it. If you spend too much time around them (in whatever form) and it starts to sink in, you will be looking for a shovel and way into your utility room to start digging. It can be consuming and the worst thing that could happen is that you become so afraid of tomorrow that you forget to live life today.

[Bill Hudson]

Hello Emily;

Thank you for bringing up this company and their tactic of using fear to sell their product. The response you received from them regarding the 2012hoax.org website is unfortunately common. Really, all that was missing was the accusation that we work for 'The Government', or the shadowy 'Powers that actually run the world'.

While using fear as a sales tool is actually not all that unusual (everything from automobiles to insurance) the example that Vivos provides is especially heinous. They are contributing to and capitalizing on 'end of the world' fears to sell space in a bunker that will most likely never have the occasion to be used, and would be (in the monumentally unlikely event that they are right) nearly useless.

Most natural disasters strike without warning. In the event of an earthquake (for example), Vivos 'owners' located in California are likely going to face extreme difficulties reaching the local Vivos site. How long will Vivos keep the door open for them?

The fact that Vivos is so coy with the details, but so specific with their marketing, tells me that the company is not being straightforward. We pointed to several challenges that seem to go unaddressed in their disaster plan, and problems that are specific to some of their claims (e.g., that the shelters are designed to be 'airtight' and also run self-contained for 1 year).

FEMA recommends that every person be ready to fend for themselves for the first 72 hours after a natural disaster. I personally would extend that to at least a week. I think that individual preparedness for the kinds of natural disasters you are likely to face in your region is just good common sense. Since I live in California, I prepare for earthquakes, and not tornadoes.

The kind of confinement that Vivos proposes is similar to that of a large submarine. The U.S. Navy conducts extensive psychological screening on the seamen who are assigned submarine duty, because it is important that the crew be able to function in tight quarters, with little or no privacy, and no external communication for long periods of time. Is Vivos screening their applicants for psychological traits, or just for the size of their pocket-books?

Bill Hudson - Founder 2012hoax.org